Hello FUEL Parents! This week at FUEL, we will conclude our Bible focused portion of the “Jesus and the Disciplines” series by studying 2 Timothy 2:15, which reads: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, ] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Of course, our next three weeks of lessons will still be based in scripture, but we will move into the Prayer focused portion of our teaching series for this semester. Please be in prayer as we continue to teach God’s word in the hope that students can be saved and that saved students can continue to be edified.

Almost all Christians know that a commitment to the word of God is a non-negotiable tenant of the Christian faith. Even non-Christians will say phrases like “the gospel truth” or “I swear by the good book” to compare their sincere statements to the standard of truthful authenticity that the Bible communicates. And yet, we find ourselves in the midst of the largest biblical illiteracy problem in the history of the American church. Despite the advancement of technology and communication that gives us more resources to study God’s word on a deeper level than ever before, statistics are showing that fewer and fewer Christians are committed to a daily study of scripture.

And we wonder why the church is so weak today.

The Bible is the only source of truth and strength that the church can stand on. With it, we rise; without it, we fall. Not only is this true of the church as a community, but this is also true for individual Christians as well. It should not surprise us that the strongest and most mature Christians of our day (and through church history) are men and women who are steeped in biblical knowledge and understanding. This is not a coincidence.

This week is all about getting our students to understand the importance of a commitment to the study of God’s Word. And we don’t want to stop there. We want them to understand that mere knowledge alone is not sufficient to produce the living that God desires in our lives. He wants us to truly know His word in our minds and our hearts…so that what we read in truth turns into obedient action. The Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus’ day knew scripture better than anyone in the Jewish nation, and yet they were under the judgment of God because they substituted simple obedience to God’s word with the petty traditions of sinful men. God’s people have ALWAYS been characteristically known by obedience to His word. It’s time for our students to learn this, and learn that this begins by studying God’s word – which should lead to faithful obedience to Jesus Christ.

Here’s how you can pray for our students this week!

Continue to pray for salvation among our students. James 4:2 says that “we do not have, because we do not ask”. Likewise, Jesus Himself tells us in John 14:13 – “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” If we want people to get saved, the first step is to pray and ask God to be gracious to reveal the truth of the Gospel to unsaved individuals. Please join us in praying for our students who may not be saved!

Continue to pray for a genuine thirst for the scriptures among our students. The whole point of this portion of our teaching series is to show our students that we can know Jesus in the Bible; in fact, this is our only source for truly knowing him. If our students want to know Jesus, love him, and obey him, they’ll need to develop a true love for scripture!

Pray that our students would commit themselves to studying God’s word. I have no reservation in telling our students that God’s word will be the most important thing that they ever learn in their lives. Please join us in continually praying this for them, and also communicating this to them on a daily basis!

Here are some questions that you can ask your students leading up to Wednesday’s lesson, and following Wednesday’s lesson.

Have you ever attempted to study a passage of scripture like you would study a note-sheet for a test at school? Why would this be a good idea for you as a Christian? (A: The Bible tells us that we always need to be ready to give a defense for why we believe what we believe. This helps us to know God better, and to always be ready to share the Gospel at a moment’s notice.)

Have you ever attempted to memorize a passage of scripture?Why might this be beneficial for you? (A: Same as above. Scripture memorization also helps us to avoid temptations when they come.)

What does our studying scripture, or not studying scripture, say about how we feel towards God? (A: If we truly believe that the Bible is God’s truthful word to us, we will study it because it matters so much. If the Bible doesn’t matter that much to us, it will show itself in a lack of commitment to know scripture.)

Do you think that Jesus made it a point in His life to know and memorize scripture? (A: You better believe it! Jesus CONSTANTLY quoted scripture in His life and ministry.)

What are some practical ways that you can begin to learn scripture with your family and friends? (A: Conversational topic with your student.)

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I’ve created this blog page for two reasons. First, to inform you of what your children are being taught at youth on Wednesday nights. This will include scripture references that I teach from and what the general idea of the message is. The second reason is to give you all a short idea of how you can encourage these same truths that are being taught at youth into the lives of your children during the week. The goal of our student ministry is that our students can be fed the truth of God’s Word every day of their lives, and we need you (the parents) to help us with that!